Carb cages and elongated engine mounts in the frame.

                        Race results, development and future plans for The Beast.

Since the last CBXFiles, we have done 2 race meetings with The Beast. One at Mac Park Mt Gambier South Australia and one at Winton Victoria.

Mt Gambier is always great to go to. A great location and a great track, that is quite challenging and not just a point and squirt horsepower track. The weather was good, we camped at the track and the engine ran faultlessly, though there was still a little bit of clutch slip. We didn't touch the tune of the engine, just tried some different suspension settings. Still not handling perfectly, but the wallowing doesn't show up as much on the tighter tracks. The 1147 engine with the Pipemasters, was crisp and in a perfect state of tune.

Trev rode well and earned 4 race wins from 4 starts and had some good dices.

Over Easter, was The Honda Broadford Bike Bonanza. I had fitted a new clutch since Mt Gambier. I took The Beast out there for display and to cut a few laps and give the new clutch a good test. I hadn't ridden her for a long while, but I had a ball. My shoulder is still giving me some issues, so I only did about 4 laps and then came in, but I did 4 sessions over the weekend and by Sunday arvo, I was even keeping a couple of guys that I used to race with, (that still race), in sight, so I was pretty happy! I just picked up the new edition of Retro and Classic Bike Enthusiast and found a good picture of The Beast with me on board! I'm feeling quite chuffed at the moment! It is a great event and Karen and I talked to lots of interested people and I caught up with Alan Cathcart again; the weather was great and life was pretty darn good!

Our next race meeting was at Winton, near Benalla. Unusual for Winton at this time of year, the weather was spot on. The track is very tight and the surface is bumpy and slippery and it is very flat and the drainage pretty poor, so we were very glad that it was dry.

This engine is a gem, being grunty and with a linear power delivery from a couple of thousand revs. Although more power would always be welcome, a super powerful bike doesn't have as much of an advantage around a track like Winton, as it would at places like Phillip Island or Eastern Creek.

This race meeting was in conjunction with the MRRDA junior national series, of which I am the series scrutineer, so I was fairly busy with my official duties, but I did get to watch Trev race The Beast and talk with him before hand and just after each race. Only fuel and routine maintenance to do and Trev tried different suspension settings and lighter rear springs throughout the weekend. Still a bit of wallowing around the sweeper, but the handling is slowly getting sorted and we had some thoughts for some more serious changes before our next race meeting. Trev rode well and busted the front runner in different spots on the last lap in each of the four races, to take the wins!

A few beers to celebrate on the trip home as we planned our next move!

Our next plan of attack was to have the 1300 engine running and fit a larger diameter swing arm bolt before the next race meeting. I pulled down the 1147 engine and gave it a check over and all was good, so I put it back together, so it was good to go if the parts hadn't arrived for the 1300 engine in time. Trev has a mate who has an engineering business where they can take a photo of our chassis and put it on a computer and simulate the forces it would come under during a race. We took the rolling chassis there and they did what they had to do to put it on the computer and now we await results and the suggestions to help minimise our wallowing issue.

I then stripped the frame right down and took it to Steve at Ford McKernan Engineering, where the swing arm boss in the frame was going to be drilled out to take a larger bolt. Whilst there, we found out that the job was going to be bigger than I had thought and that the two rear engine mounts in the frame were elongated.  All could be repaired, but it was a big job and we only had the day to do it, as I needed to start reassembly the next day to get her ready for Phillip Island only 3 days away. I decided that it would be best to cancel our entry. We are using this year to develop the handling and although I could have got it back together and raced on the weekend, we would not have achieved anything as she would still have been wallowing. That frame has had 20 years of on and off racing, so I suppose the frame will be a bit stressed. It is often the little things that are over looked and these elongated engine mounts could be playing a major factor in the way she is handling. This frame has been put aside for a while and I will build up the Pro Link Beastess, for our next race meeting at Broadford on August 10 and 11.

It was good not to have The Beast at the Island. The weather was on and off, I hadn't finished off the 1300 engine and as this was in conjunction with another MRRDA meeting, I was busy for most of the weekend, checking the bikes of the Juniors. It is a good competition and bikes have to be basically stock. Up for grabs at the end of the season, is a spot in the Red Bull rookies try outs in Spain, with 200 of the worlds best Junior racers. So the stakes are high, so my job is to keep the kids and parents and their bikes honest!  July 6 and 7, I'll be at Morgan Park Qld and August 3 and 4 , I'll be at Eastern Creek, keeping an eye on these up and comers.

So, there is work to do on the twin shock frame and development to do on setting up and testing the new Pro Link Beastess and hopefully soon, we'll also be testing the new 1300 engine. Plenty to keep me out of trouble and little by little we are making a better package that all CBX enthusiasts can benefit from. Trev has been making up bits for us and club member, Mike, from Lilydale Sheet metal has just made us up some beautiful stainless steel 'cages' to go over the 1 and 6 carbs to keep Trev's knees off the bell mouths and blocking airflow and richening up these 2 cylinders, The Pipemasters pipes as well as looking great and performing beautifully, also make for easier tuning as you can see the colour of the tail pipes from each cylinder!

Thanks to all our supporters and I'm always happy to hear from any CBX enthusiasts.

Regards Rol.

Mel Bristow PowerHouse CBX Racing Team.